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Home>Archives for JuST Faith Summit

April 5, 2018 by Guest

The Survivor’s Guide to Surviving the Bible

**This is the first guest blog in a series of posts by the 2018 JuST Faith Summit speakers. Check back for new posts highlighting the critical topics that will be featured at this year’s Faith Summit. Join us, June 20-22 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, for this exciting Summit. Visit this link to see the full agenda and lineup of speakers.

When you’ve been purchased like some toy on a store shelf, hearing or reading that “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price”, is not such good news. Scriptures such as that one were a stumbling block for me in my healing journey. You might be thinking that there aren’t that many verses like that, but you would be wrong.

[easy-tweet tweet=”When you’ve been purchased like some toy on a store shelf, hearing or reading that “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price”, is not such good news.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

Everyone likes Psalm 23, right? “He makes me lie down in green pastures”? No thank you. My pastor taught on that verse in October of 2011, comparing it to being a child going to bed at night with no worries – secure in the knowledge that mom and dad were in charge and would keep them safe. He couldn’t understand why that verse made me angry and hurt – until I told him that as a child, going to bed at night was the most dangerous part of my day. 

That was Pastor Josh’s “aha” moment. He had never realized how certain scriptures looked, seen through a survivor’s eyes. Thus began a long process of my identifying problem verses to my pastors Josh Causey and Megan Kelly, and them contextualizing, discussing, explaining, rewording, and forever changing how I saw the Word. Exchanging truth for lies, that’s what it’s all about, right? I believe that juvenile sex trafficking is the enemy’s number one weapon in this world. It’s widely known that the best lie is one which contains a little truth. What better way could there be to undermine God than taking love, family, gender, and sex, twisting them into a gross caricature of the Kingdom, and using them as weapons against vulnerable children? And the crown jewel in the enemy’s arsenal? Twisting the meaning of scriptures into fiery darts.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” is no joke. I believe that a deep relationship with Christ is the only path to true healing for survivors. When I first arrived at Living Hope Fellowship, I had been out of the industry and “functional” for ten years. I wasn’t healed, though, and I certainly didn’t have abundant life. The only reason I even went to church was so my daughter would grow up alongside church people and so belong and be accepted as I never could be (I thought). Like many survivors, I had a warped view of the Gospel. I thought the Father was angry at me and wanted to crush me, but as long as I believed in Jesus, then Jesus would protect me from Him and I would get to go to Heaven when I died. Working through Josh and Megan, Jesus brought the scriptures alive for me and I truly began to heal and live as a branch connected to the true vine.

Together, we wrote a guide for you to take back to your church. This guide will equip ministers and advocates to look at scripture through the lens of trafficking and apply sound, spirit-led interpretation in a way that brings life and healing to survivors.

[easy-tweet tweet=”This guide will equip ministers and advocates to look at scripture through the lens of trafficking and apply sound, spirit-led interpretation in a way that brings life and healing to survivors.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

I didn’t ask what these verses meant because I was afraid of the answers. People at church would tell me that God loved me, but those people didn’t know the things I had done. Even as they got to know about my story, they still didn’t know all the stuff. Trust doesn’t come easy to survivors, and it certainly doesn’t come quickly. I was at Living Hope for roughly four years before I trusted Josh with my doubts and my questions. We want to put the truth into survivors’ hands in a non-threatening format. We will be giving the guide out free of charge, along with permission to copy and distribute it as long as you do so in its entirety and do not make any changes to it.

We cannot possibly identify all of the scriptures that hit survivors in a hurtful way, but we want to equip ministers and advocates to go after the hard questions. No two survivors’ stories are the same and we want church members and leaders to be able to see scripture through the lens of trafficking and apply sound, Spirit-led interpretation in a way that brings life and healing to survivors. We also want to equip survivors with the skills and resources to do their own sound, biblical research whenever a verse hits them weird. We want everyone to know that there is no scripture that is contrary to the character of God.

[easy-tweet tweet=”We want to equip ministers and advocates to go after the hard questions.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”FaithSummit2018″]

The Word has such power to heal and deepen relationship with Christ. Psalm 23 has become my favorite Psalm, but it took going deeper. On the surface, God allowed me to be placed in a family where I was surrounded by abuse and pain. Where was my green pasture – my “good”? I think the green pasture is not analogous to circumstance, that God is working hard to ensure that I have what is best for me, which is God working in my life to mold my character to be Christ-like. It is God using all that was meant for evil in my life to shape my passion against injustice and my love for the oppressed – to make my heart like his. And a heart like His is the ultimate good and the greenest of pastures.

It is beyond wretched that the enemy would use God’s own words to harm His children. We can take this weapon out of his hand for good.

3 Things You Can Do Right Now

  1. PRAY! Always the first action.
  2. Get involved with local efforts to fight trafficking .
  3. Come to the JuST Faith Summit and get equipped!

By Deb Haltom, Survivor Advocate, Living Hope Fellowship

 

February 9, 2018 by Susanna Bean

Sneak Peek at Faith Summit Speakers

We’ve had over 100 applications to speak at the Faith Summit this year! While we’re still finalizing our agenda, we are excited to give you a sneak peak of a few of our speakers! Early bird registration closes in 28 days, so don’t wait to register! You won’t want to miss our inspiring list of speakers this year!

CLICK TO REGISTER

John Pulley, Co-Founder of ManAlive Expedition


Jerry Redman, CEO of Second Life Tennessee

Judith Reisman, PhD, Liberty University School of Law and Founder & Director of Child Protection Institute

Caleb Kaltenbach, DMin, Author, Speaker, Pastor and Teacher

These four speakers are just the beginning of our exciting line-up of workshops! The Faith Summit is loaded with inspiring speakers and educational workshops, all designed to prepare attendees with practical knowledge and effective action steps to address trafficking in their own community.  Remember early bird registration closed February 28. Register today!

CLICK TO REGISTER

December 21, 2017 by Susanna Bean

JuST Faith Keynote Speaker Announced!

We are excited to announce that the Keynote Address at the JuST Faith Summit 2018 will be Eric Metaxas #1 New York Times bestselling author! 

Eric is the author of numerous books including of Bonhoeffer and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery. His most recently published work is Martin Luther.  His biographies, children’s books, and works of popular apologetics have been translated into more than 20 languages.

He is the host of the Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally syndicated radio program heard in more than 120 cities around the U.S., featuring in-depth interviews with a wide variety of guests.

Eric speaks to thousands around the U.S. and internationally each year. He was the keynote speaker at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC, an event attended by the President and First Lady, the Vice President, members of Congress, and other U.S. and world leaders.

ABC News has called Metaxas a “photogenic, witty ambassador for faith in public life.”

Eric lives in Manhattan, New York, with his wife and daughter.

Don’t miss this chance to hear Eric speak live!  Register for the Faith Summit!

October 18, 2017 by Susanna Bean

Coming 2018: JuST Faith Summit

We’re thrilled to announce the 2018 Faith Summit!

Join us June 20-22, 2018 at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota!

This unforgettable and energizing three-day summit, is loaded with inspiring speakers and educational workshops, all designed to prepare you with practical knowledge and effective action steps to protect the children in your own community.

Whether you are a student, pastor, lay church leader, or congregation member, the Faith Summit has something for everyone. Attendees will learn critical information to prevent sex trafficking and ways to assist in restoration efforts and justice initiatives on behalf of survivors. Bethel College Campus, nestled in the beautiful Land of 10,000 Lakes, provides you a refreshing environment to learn about this pressing social injustice.

Join experts, professionals and people of faith from across the nation to learn how you, and your church, can leverage your resources to tackle sex trafficking from all angles.

Registration

Registration is now open! Register here. Earlybird tickets will be $275 until February 28. After that the price increases, so book your ticket early!  

Attendees will have access to a complimentary Faith in Action Kit that includes the complete Chosen Plus community awareness tool, USB with print resources for discussion guides to share about the issue, scriptural perspective and action items in a 4-week study for men’s, women’s and youth groups. This incredibly versatile tool will help you educate your faith community and reach out to your area to protect children from sex trafficking.

What Attendees Are Saying!

“I attended the JUST Faith Conference in Orlando last spring along with one of my pastor friends.  As we returned home we were deeply challenged and concerned about how we could take action to motivate our church to get involved in addressing the Minor Sex Trafficking issue in our region.  The Faith in Action Kit was the answer.  It gave us the tools to engage the youth, men, parents and leadership of our church to begin engaging and informing our church to take action.

Dr. Jay A. Barber, President Emeritus 
Warner Pacific College
Portland, Oregon 

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